Life Coaching and Addiction Issues

Using life coaching to treat addiction

I take pride in my ability to connect with anyone struggling with addiction: my motivation to help is enormous and my approach non-judgmental, serious, incredibly supportive, but never enabling.

There is nothing more heart-breaking than when substance abuse and addictive behavior affect the lives of the addict and their families. Helping young people, adults and families deal with and/or recover from addiction issues and/or understand the ramifications of being the family member of an addict is a big part of what I do. In fact life coaching, because of its positive, forward-looking approach, is a potent way to help people face their addiction problems as well as help families understand how their behavior has been shaped by their relationship to an addict.

I meet young people or adults in their homes, at school out in the community. I’ll accompany people to AA or NA meetings. I’ll roll up my sleeves and work closely with individuals and their families. I’ll help the sufferer see how he’s affecting himself and those around him.

Substance Abuse and Young People

Addiction is one of the most difficult problems a family can face. It’s difficult to say how successful I can be with any individual young abuser, but I often do make progress. Some things I can help with:

I can help you determine how bad the problem is and whether your child needs to go to rehab for his or her own safety.

I can work with you to make sure you are not contributing to the problem (enabling) and are instead working together in order to move your child toward treatment; getting the parents on track often is enough to get the child to accept help.

Adult child of alcoholic (ACOA) issues can often impact a family system. I can work with adult children to break the cycles set up in childhood. This often has a huge positive effect on your relationship with your spouse and your children.

At the very least, you and your child will have a greater understanding of his/her problem and how addiction works, both for the individual and the family, and we can lay the groundwork for his/her asking for help one day, I hope sooner rather than later.

Interventions

Getting an addict to accept treatment, no matter what their age, is often a challenge. It is commonly thought that addicts need to “hit bottom” before treatment can become effective. The problem is some addicts never allow themselves to do so, thus committing both themselves and their loved ones to a life of misery. Others might take years, even decades, to get there. And for some, the “bottom” is death.

However, research now shows us that even people who are coerced into treatment can be treated as successfully as those who voluntarily enter treatment. For some people, “hitting bottom” really means that they are finally forced to face the consequences of their addiction: they get a DUI or, God forbid, hurt or kill someone. They overdose and require hospitalization. They lose their job or their spouse and family or are asked to move out. Knowing that sometimes facing the potential consequences is enough of a motivator to get someone into treatment, it is possible to “bring the bottom up,” so to speak, by having what’s called an intervention. The intervention brings together many of the key people in the alcoholic or addict’s life in a carefully planned, orchestrated effort to explain how the addiction is affecting them and what the consequences will be if the addict doesn’t get help. Arrangements are made in advance with a detox and/or rehab facility, and a member of the intervention team must be ready to transport his/her loved one straight to the facility from the intervention. I have facilitated many interventions and think it is a great tool to help an addict move towards recovery. You can read more about how interventions work in the excellent book, Love First: A Family’s Guide to Intervention, by Jeff and Debra Jay. If an addict isn’t ready to get treatment, I can work with family members on how they can best move forward with their own lives when faced with an addict who refuses to manage their disease.

I am particularly passionate and prepared to help you help you, your child, or other loved one.

Upcoming Events

Finding Common Ground: Finding Common Ground: Partnering with Parents, Educators, & Students to Reduce Anxiety & Stress in the Public SchoolsMarch 4, 2019 at 6:00 pm – 8:00 pmPuritan Backroom Restaurant, 245 Hooksett Rd, Manchester, NH 03104, USAJoin us for a solution-focused forum for school administrators on the new challenges caused by the epidemic of increased student stress and anxiety. For more information: http://www.jefflevincoaching.com/finding-common-ground-a-program-for-school-administrators/